


Sunshine

by StormWildcat



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Character Death, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-26
Updated: 2015-07-26
Packaged: 2018-04-11 08:30:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4428458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StormWildcat/pseuds/StormWildcat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kanji has been severely ill and the outlook doesn't look positive. Yet every day Naoto visits him to give him comfort and distract him from the ultimate outcome. And then it happens.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sunshine

**Author's Note:**

> Beware this is a tear-jerker. I actually cried writing this. Typing and tearing is really difficult.

It had come on suddenly. One day Kanji was his usual self, full of vigor and passion. The next day, he was in the hospital, sick; very sick. Over the course of several months the young man deteriorated. His energy was gone, his lungs could barely keep up with the need for air, and his general ability to move was almost non-existent, along with hope that he would recover. Or see another Christmas.

Rain pattered on the glass as Naoto settled in for another day keeping her love company, a small bag full of different books to read to him or silently as he rested. A small smile pulled at her lips as she gave him a sweet kiss to the lips. “How are you feeling today?” she asked, all well knowing his answer would be similar to the day before, but she never gave up the idea that he would have a wide grin on his face one day, sitting up and ready to receive the powerful hug that she had desired to give him for weeks on end. She missed his strong arms wrapped around her terribly.

Yet she was only met with the same weak smile and raspy voice as she had for far too long for her heart to handle. “A little”. Naoto had figured out a long time ago that this was a lie. This was Kanji’s attempt to keep her spirits high but every nurse and doctor had an opposite report; Kanji was only getting worse. She would never show it to him, but it broke her up a little more every time he said it.

Naoto took her usual seat and rifled through her books before pulling free the one she had started the day before with Kanji. She had read a series of different genres to him during her visits including some of her favorite detective novels, mysteries, and adventure stories. This was a new one however. Kanji had wished to learn the story of Romeo and Juliet, not a tale that Naoto had predicted he would want to hear. But it was a classic and he wanted to listen to something romantic; no doubt something that reminded him of his and Naoto’s own story. With a smile, Naoto had of course agreed to bring the title and started to read the Shakespearian story to Kanji.

After making sure Kanji was comfortable and needed nothing, she leaned back in her chair and opened to her bookmark, continuing where she left off. The only sounds in the room aside from Naoto’s soothing voice reading aloud was the rhythmic beep of Kanji’s heart monitor and the drumming of the rain. For about an hour, he reacted to the story, commenting when he could or simply making a grunt or raspy coo. But soon he fell quiet, only listening to the voice of his high school sweetheart.

A feeling came over him. It welled in his chest, hurting his heart and bringing about a threat of tears to his eyes. He kept his focus trained on the window, not wanting to risk showing the worry in his face. His life had been going so well; the family business was going crazy, his talents were being outsourced by many and he had captured the heart of his dream girl. Nothing could take him down. Then he got sick. And now this growing feeling inside him told him that he was about to lose everything. He didn’t want to leave. He didn’t want to lose what he had. His mother, his friends, his fiancée; he didn’t want to leave them. But he wasn’t being given a choice, and he had to go. It was his time. But he wanted one thing before he said goodbye.

“Naoto,” he almost whispered. The reading stopped and he did everything in his power to keep his emotions in.

“Yes, Kanji? Do you need something?” Naoto was always eager and ready to assist him with anything and everything. He had been blessed to have her as long as he did.

“I do. Can-Can you sing to me?”

It was an odd request, one that Naoto had not expected. Her eyes focused on Kanji, his head turned away from her, gray eyes focused on the gray outside. He was troubled. She could always tell when something was eating away at him. And this was no exception. There was a nagging issue in his head or his heart and he wasn’t telling her.

Then it clicked. Her heart sunk and stomach dropped. There was a very good chance that this request, for her to sing, was his last request. Naoto’s bottom lip quivered as she took a breath and sidled up close to Kanji’s bedside. Her hands found his, the contact making him face her. She fought back the hot fear searing her chest and smiled. The perfect song came to mind and she knew it was the only one she could sing; it was the very song that Kanji had mentioned when he chattered excitedly about having children with her after they were wed. It was the song that he dreamt of hearing her sing to any future napping little ones. Though she rarely sang in the presence of others including Kanji, it needed to happen.

Naoto calmed herself as much as she could and drew in a breath. Her voice was beautiful to Kanji; what he imagined an angel would sound like. He had heard her without her knowing; in the shower, in the kitchen making dinner, she was perfection right down to her voice. And as the words flowed from those sweet lips, the widest smile he had managed in months spread across his face, his eyes lit up and it made Naoto’s heart swell. At that moment, as she sang the simple song, he looked as he did before he became ill; full of love and life. As the lullaby came close to ending, Kanji’s eyes closed, his hand squeezed Naoto’s, and that smile never quite went away. As he went to sleep for a final time, the sun broke from behind the clouds, focusing a few special rays on Kanji’s smiling face.

_You are my sunshine, my only sunshine._

_You make me happy when skies are gray._

_You’ll never know dear how much I love you._

_So don’t take my sunshine away._

**Author's Note:**

> I had conceived this idea this morning when I woke up and instantly felt a surge of emotion from it. These two are a couple that I never wanted to have separated but the pure feelings that come up when something tragic happens between them is so great and moving that I needed to write this.


End file.
